Bob Hailey files to run for Castillo's SUSD seat in event of recall

STOCKTON - Unlike the other two candidates hoping to take over in the event Stockton Unified Trustee Dan Castillo is recalled in June, the Rev. Bob Hailey has a very public past.

Roger Phillips

STOCKTON - Unlike the other two candidates hoping to take over in the event Stockton Unified Trustee Dan Castillo is recalled in June, the Rev. Bob Hailey has a very public past.

The 71-year-old Hailey is a former president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and an unsuccessful one-time candidate for the San Joaquin Delta College board. He also once was director of a program that helped former inmates reintegrate into society.

In recent months, Hailey has turned out at Stockton Unified board meetings to weigh in on topics such as class sizes and the district's search for a new superintendent.

Four years ago, Hailey - the minister at Unity Southern Baptist Church - took a very public and inflammatory stand in the City Council race between Beverly Foster and Susan Eggman, who is a lesbian.

During the campaign, Hailey delivered a speech to the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors that he called "The Destruction of America." In the speech, he railed against the gay "lifestyle," calling it an "abomination" that is "against nature."

As he spoke about his Stockton Unified candidacy this week, Hailey stood by his comments of four years ago.

"I'm a Baptist preacher," he said. "I've always said homosexuals, liars, anybody that does something wrong, I'm against. But I still love the person. I've got people in my family with that lifestyle. I disagree with that. What I get out of the Bible, that's what I believe."

Eggman, who wound up defeating Foster, responded, "It is not my place to judge Rev. Hailey. However, I'm surprised that somebody who has been such an advocate for civil rights for so long would express these kinds of opinions. I would further say one of the things I've learned as an elected official is you need to serve everybody objectively and fairly. Anyone running for public office has the responsibility to really consider the impact of their words."

Hailey said he will be able to work with gay employees and those with differing views if he wins a seat on the Stockton Unified board.

"I can do that," he said. "I've worked with people who are gay. It's just my belief. You want to live that lifestyle, it's OK with me. But I still disagree with it. You love the person, not the action."

Hailey filed to run in the June 8 election just before last week's deadline. He will vie for the Area 7 seat in north Stockton with longshoreman David Griffen and sales manager Steve Smith.

The only way it will matter who wins that three-way race is if voters first decide to remove Castillo. Hailey also said that regardless of the June outcome, he is prepared to run again in November when Castillo's term expires.

He said he is tired of the "fighting and fussing" that frequently dominated board meetings in recent years.

Hailey and his wife of 42 years, Katherine, do not have any children. He said the children at his Sunday school are "his kids."

"I'm tired of hearing 'we're for the kids,' and the kids suffer more than anybody," Hailey said. "I've got some ideas how to change that. ... I love kids. I've been dealing with the school district all these years. I know what needs to be done."